Lynn Johnson, Author at Nature Needs More

Our Dopamine Addiction Is Killing The Planet. How Can We Detox?

By Lynn Johnson|2022-01-09T15:10:54+11:00January 5th, 2022|The Fly|

Our Dopamine Addiction Is Killing The Planet. How Can We Detox? Lynn Johnson 5 January, 2022 Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that sends signals from one neuron to another. Whatever your drug of choice, chocolate, nicotine, amphetamines, social media, power or shopping, dopamine is the final common pathway for all pleasurable, intoxicating and rewarding experiences. It is believed to be the most important neurotransmitter when it comes to the experience of pleasure, motivation and reward. But it isn’t ‘pleasure’ all the way because the same areas of the brain that process pleasure also process pain, and pleasure-pain work like a balance. When that pleasure-pain balance tilts to the side of pain after the [...]

COVID-19 Is Player Of The Year For Two Years Running

By Lynn Johnson|2022-01-09T07:18:14+11:00December 30th, 2021|WGFW|

COVID-19 Is Player Of The Year, For Two Years Running Matches cancelled or postponed, players and teams in quarantine and the drama of the unvaccinated, coronavirus continues to challenge the sports world. As we enter the third year of the pandemic, sadly COVID-19 continues its reign as player of the year. After the initial cancellations, sport returned but was played in mostly empty stadiums, including the delayed Olympic Games. These were the visible signs of change. What we didn’t see was the players and athletes separated from their families, kept in a bubble to ensure they could participate ‘if’ the match or fixture went ahead. The sports ecosystem, including the fans, players, employees, media partners and sponsors are [...]

Why Would Conservation Legitimise Strategies Used By Wildlife Traffickers?

By Lynn Johnson|2021-12-28T15:31:33+11:00December 28th, 2021|Blog|

In April 2016, I wrote an article titled, Want To Know Why Conservation Is Failing? Read On…. In the article, I spoke about the negative implications of the specialist-expert mindset. Over decades, people working in conservation (and beyond) have been supported to hone their specialist expertise through research but the professional development needed to evolve a more strategic way of thinking is lacking in the sector. Yet specialists rarely make good problem solvers when dealing with complexity. Too many become perfectionists in their field but are unable to make links, unable to consider the consequences of their proposed solutions outside their immediate field of expertise. In short, they do depth but don’t exhibit a breadth of perspective. To [...]

What Is The Purpose Of Zoos?

By Lynn Johnson|2021-12-22T13:17:51+11:00December 22nd, 2021|Blog|

What is the purpose of zoos? And, are they fulfilling their primary objective? I have been mulling over these questions for several years now. The first ‘modern’ zoo opened in Paris in 1793. The idea quickly spread to cities throughout Europe and beyond. The question which I have found myself reflecting on more-and-more, after reading the IPBES report into the extinction crisis is, “Given zoos have had over 200 years to enlighten us to the importance of non-human animals, how come so few people care about wildlife and the natural world?” In this task, zoos have obviously failed, as it is our purchasing behaviour that is driving the extinction crisis. The May 2019 IPBES report into global biodiversity [...]

It’s Time To Talk About Bloodlust

By Lynn Johnson|2021-12-21T09:48:11+11:00December 20th, 2021|Blog|

Apex predators and iconic species decimated by a handful of men who can’t control their urge to kill. It is far too easy to find examples of bloodlust. Spanish trophy hunter, Marcial Gómez Sequeira, who said in a news article, “Three years ago I tried to calculate the time I have spent hunting. I worked out that I had been shooting for 24 hours a day over the course of 11 years and three months of my life. Firing bullets non-stop.” Wisconsin hunters killing 216 wolves in less than 60 hours, exceeding the state quota of 119 and prompting Wisconsin to end a one-week hunt four days early. Wildlife killing competitions, where the level of slaughter is too [...]

A Christmas Gift For Wildlife

By Lynn Johnson|2021-12-21T07:01:17+11:00December 17th, 2021|Blog, WGFW|

There is no more important time to think about wildlife than at the time of year focused on consumption. Unsustainable consumption is a key driver of biodiversity loss. And while I’m not trying to be the Grinch or Ebenezer Scrooge this Christmas, why not add the gift of a donation for wildlife to your Christmas list? A small donation of a Christmas Gift For Wildlife would be very welcome. And research shows it is needed now more than ever. In the UK, Britain’s top earners are giving less to charity while their incomes continue to rise, donations falling 20% between 2012 to 2019, resulting in a growing ‘generosity gap’. Gus O’Donnell, who led the research [...]

(Re)Wilding – It’s Grand!

By Lynn Johnson|2026-08-04T22:15:17+10:00October 31st, 2021|Blog|

Not Dealing With Climate Change Is Dumb, Not Dealing With Biodiversity Loss Is Even Dumber. In watching the run up to CoP26, what has been very apparent is the pressure put on world leaders to attend. Together with the host, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the other world leaders confirmed as going include Prime Minister Mario Draghi (Italy), President Joe Biden (United States), First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (Scotland), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Canada), President Emmanuel Macron (France), President Nana Akufo-Addo (Ghana), President Alberto Fernandez (Argentina), Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (Israel), President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkey), Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (Sweden), President Guy Parmelin (Switzerland), President Muhammadu Buhari (Nigeria), President Ivan Duque (Colombia), Prime Minister Scott Morrison (Australia). Notable [...]

What Every AFL Fan Needs To Know

By Lynn Johnson|2021-11-05T07:30:00+11:00October 24th, 2021|WGFW|

What Every AFL Fan Needs To Know There were very mixed feelings in Melbourne around this year's AFL Grand Final. The elation felt in the city, and in particular by Melbourne Demons fans, was tinged with sadness. As the Melbourne Demons broke their 57-year premiership drought, the longest premiership drought in Australian football, Melbourne couldn’t help but feel jubilation for the club and fans that have both been starved of success for so long. The sadness? Because the AFL Grand Final wasn’t played at its spiritual home, The Melbourne Cricket Club - the MCG – ‘The G’. For the second year running The G has lost the AFL Grand Final because of the global pandemic. The iconic stadium [...]

The Legal Wildlife Trade Mainstream Media D-Notice

By Lynn Johnson|2021-10-24T08:16:30+11:00October 21st, 2021|The Fly|

The Legal Wildlife Trade Mainstream Media D-Notice Lynn Johnson 21 October, 2021 Those who love a British political thriller, particularly one which includes tension between the government and the press, the term, “it’s had a D-Notice slapped on the story” will be familiar. For the individuals who don’t know what a D-Notice is, here is a little background provided by the BBC’s Secret Britain Series. The "Defence Advisory Notice System" - as it is now called - is supposed to be entirely voluntary. In reality, though, it's very rare for any of the mainstream media [MSM] organisations to ignore the committee's requests [not to publish a story]”. Why does the [...]

The Failure Of Investors

By Lynn Johnson|2022-11-14T06:55:54+11:00October 14th, 2021|The Fly|

Image peterschreiber.media The Failure Of Investors How can you call something an investment when it is driving biodiversity loss? Lynn Johnson 14 October 2021 We cannot overcome the biodiversity loss, associated with the legal trade in endangered species, unless we can change the minds and strategies of the individuals and groups who invest in these wildlife and timber markets. In the end, getting investors committed to tackling biodiversity loss, associated with legal trade, maybe a key action to dealing with the extinction crisis. Investors have started to exert influence in relation to climate change policies and carbon emissions targets in the companies in which they invest. They have been under increasing [...]

About Lynn Johnson